Systems Vendors Choose 64-Bit Unix
By Ellis Booker
June 01, 1998, Internet WeekLet the 64-Bit Unix-On-Intel games begin.
Late last month, Sun Microsystems launched its largest beta program ever with the next version of its Solaris operating system, a 64-bit OS that can support both Sun's RISC architectures and Intel's forthcoming IA-64 architecture.
The announcement rounded out the list of Unix OS and hardware systems vendors with plans for Intel's upcoming Merced chip. Missing from the list is IBM, which will not offer Unix on Merced for enterprise systems, although it will support Windows NT on the processor in its NetFinity server line. IBM will continue to use the 64-bit PowerPC chip in its RS/6000 servers and will enhance that chip to be competitive with Merced.
Although nearly all Unix vendors already offer 64-bit support for RISC chip architectures, their attention has turned to 64-bit Unix on Intel-specifically Merced-where the fastest growth is expected. Unix on Intel will increase from less than 15 percent of all Unix server spending to more than 40 percent by year-end 2002, according to the Gartner Group.
Grabbing that market is high on many systems vendors' minds. According to Tony Iams, a senior Unix analyst at D.H. Brown & Associates, the "heavy-duty slug-out will be between Hewlett-Packard and Compaq, because they are the volume producers." In a change of heart last month, Compaq said it would use Digital Unix for its Merced systems rather than SCO's UnixWare.
Iams said an interesting potential is HP, which will use its own HP-UX on Merced, along with its partners Hitachi, NEC and Stratus Computer-all of which have licensed the 64-bit HP-UX. In contrast, Sun will exclusively promote its own SPARC systems-while licensing 64-bit Solaris to partners for use on non-Solaris systems-Digital will primarily promote its own Alpha processor, and HP will build Merced-based systems. HP will phase out its PA-RISC chip line over several years and create a single IA-64 platform for its computers. Later this year, HP will offer the HP-UX that runs on either PA-RISC or IA-64 chips, and its HP-UX 11.0, which will be able to handle either PA-RISC or IA-64 applications on IA-64 hardware.
Meanwhile, high-end customers will have new choices. Sun, for instance, has aggressively demonstrated mainframe-caliber Unix systems with its UltraEnterprise 10000, which includes support for hot-swapping processors online. And Digital earlier in the year announced cross-licensing agreements with Tandem to work on interoperability between their respective high-end clustering technologies. This is not surprising, since Compaq already owns Tandem and intends to complete its purchase of Digital this month.
Part of the enthusiasm among Unix vendors for Merced is an awareness that the clock is ticking and that Microsoft will eventually have a 64-bit version of its fast-growing Windows NT system. That version of NT is not expected until after the delivery of Windows NT 5.0 early next year.
Iams is among those who believe there will be room for both operating systems. "There's a lot of optimization going on around NT, and users are looking to leverage the benefits of its ease of use, price per user and wealth of applications," he said. "But for certain enterprise tasks, you will need Unix. Understanding that is the first step." Enterprise customers also may be smiling at the Unix 98 specification that The Open Group released last month. It promises to rationalize the different flavors of Unix, in one way by standardizing support for 64-bit hardware.
Sun's 64-bit Solaris-yet to be given its own brand name-is due this fall. Among its major features are a 64-bit kernel with full 32-bit backward compatibility; 64-bit virtual addressing; 64-bit environment to develop and deploy 64-bit applications; and 64-bit application development tools.
Copyright (c) 1998 CMP Media Inc.
